I always thought it was a strength thing. It seems skaters don't do as much strenght training during the off season, so they aren't as strong as they are during the season. Usually you hear them say that they "got all thier triples back" Whick imples that they still can jump, just not triples. I would think a loss of strenght would make it harder to complete a triple jump becuse you can't get the height or rotate as fast as you do if you are trained.

When you're not training something repeatedly, your body does take a short time to remember how to do something. The muscles haven't been constantly used, so you have to get them used to it again. Things are just a bit awkward for a bit. I mean, say you go out and run the 100m in 9 seconds kinda regularly, then you take a few months off from running. Are you automatically going to be running that distance in that same amount of time right when you start running it again?

Following the competitive season, touring and bit of a vacation, some skaters may say, they are getting their jumps back.

What does this statement mean? How does a skater "forget" years of training and muscle memory?

If a skater must relearn their jumps, then why cannot a skater who flutzes or has other bad technique when jumping be reprogrammed?

When I skated and we had some time off due to illness or vacation we called it getting our sea-legs back. Skaters don't forget how to jump, or skate. It's just a general term applied towards getting back into condition. Top skaters in the compeitive world don't rest on their laurels for very long. They have to stay in top condition all year long. Most of them do conditioning exercises off ice.

Jumping takes a lot of practice - even off the ice - many skaters practice jumping off ice. I used to practice in the basement or living room.

So when skaters say they are getting their jumps back, they just mean they are getting serious about practice again. Not to worry!!!!